Epilogue

Scarborough, June 19th, 1914

The 'Hill of Adventure' house was calming down for the night as it was a celebratory day for the mice couple that lived below. Olivia Flaversham-Basil had turned 27 and her family had treated her to a lovely day of never ending attention.

"Gracious, I'm so spoiled today!" she said to her husband who chuckles as he cleans off most the mess their children made in the kitchen with help from his good friend Karl and his wife Lottie. The Koffman family decided to join their friends at their summer villa as they always wanted to see Scarborough.

In the last 6 years, the Basil's witnessed many events, including their twins grow up and now they were older siblings to a little baby girl. Their sister Sophie was born on Christmas Eve in 1913 and Basil never felt so happy to have another child, especially with one with a Christmas birthday. He and Olivia decided to name her after Aunt Sophie, but also gave her the second name Bridget, which was Olivia's mother's middle name. Sophie was a happy and energetic baby, it was obvious that she did inherit her father's wild behavior, but she did have her mother's physical features. Much like he did with his twin children, Basil loved to spoil Sophie, but he figured it best to not spoil them so much.

Olivia returned to Westfield College after the twins' second birthday in the fall of 1910 and graduated with a degree in political science in the summer of 1913, which was the time she became pregnant with Sophie. She had educated herself very diligently and the lessons she learned on needing a government proved to be very helpful on some of the cases her husband was assigned. Her teachers loved her attitude on her pursuit of learning and they were hopeful that her daughters, Leana and Sophie would come to Westfield. There were talks among the staff that the college would integrate both the male and female genders in the future, but it was still undetermined.

Their good friend King Edward had died in the spring of 1910, but he made sure that the Basil family would receive accommodations when his son George became king. George was just as grateful to the Basil's for saving his grandmother the mouse queen all those years ago.

Mrs. Judson had retired and now her eldest daughter, Mrs. Rachel Judson-Fitzgerald had taken over the Basil household, but Mrs. Judson would drop in now and then to check on her daughter and their employers. She did join the Basil's on their summer getaway this year.

Dawson had considered retiring from the crime-solving business as he figured he was too old and that many of the cases he experienced in the last six years nearly gave him a heart-attack. Most of the time, he would get anxious when Basil's children were in grave predicaments, but they, much like their parents, somehow outsmarted death.

John and Leana proved to have inherited both their parents' intelligence and helped out in most of the difficult cases their parents were assigned. Basil kept record of their cases, but he was mostly ecstatic about writing the cases his children were in. He had a feeling that both would serve the mice world as detectives, much like him.

Basil comes back to the present as he hears his children bid goodnight to their friends, the Finely's. The Basil family kept their word and returned to Scarborough every summer, much to the delight of Leana and Louie, who became best friends. John, however, as soon as he could understand the world around him, was often jealous of the friendship his twin sister had. He hid his jealously, but his father often scolded him for his behavior as jealousy can often hurt others.

"Basil," Karl said and the detective looks to his friend. "I thought I not mention this on a splendid occasion, but I can't keep it in," the German mouse said and continues, "I have a terrible feeling that we will be experiencing a dark time. The world is changing and many countries here in Europe are undergoing a great unrest, including my geliebtes Deutschland."

Basil was aware that many humans and mice around Europe were hearing new ideas of nationalism, imperialism and many others. He was afraid that the world would be experiencing a dark transformation of civil unrest and turmoil. He hated to think the end of times were coming, but it was likely that it would not happen. He had his family to think about, so he buried the dark thoughts.

"Mein freund," Basil said, "We shouldn't let uncertainty cloud our thoughts. Instead, we should be looking on the bright side of life. I often let fate do the work and thanks to that, I have a wife and children to think about." Karl nods and they join the others out in the living room. The Finely's were gone and the house's occupants went to change into the nightgowns.

The children rejoined the adults, who were settling down with wine. Olivia grew to like wine, mostly French wine, but Lottie introduced her to German wine. The Basil's were careful in not consuming too much alcohol as they didn't want to be intoxicated at an opportune moment.

"Mummy, daddy, can you tell us that story, again?" Leana asks her parents.

"Which one?" Basil asks his daughter.

"The one where you and mummy first met," Leana answers and a dreamy look appears in her eyes. "I find it romantic that you two fell in love when mummy was a little girl. I hope to get to experience that when I'm 10," she adds and the Koffman's two daughters give romantic sighs and the adult women mice chuckle.

"Gross!" John exclaims and the Koffman's two sons gave disgusted looks, but their fathers glare at them. "I want to hear the fight you had with that Ratigan!" John said and begins to punch the air with his fists like a boxer and the oldest Koffman son joined in. Basil knew it wasn't much of a fight at Big Ben, he received a brutal beating from that rat, but he survived.

The Basil's enjoyed telling their children and other mice about the time they first met and it was the case that changed Basil's heart. They settle everyone down as Olivia begins to tell her part of the story.

"It was on my 10th birthday in 1897, my father and I had a splendid day earlier, but your grandfather loved to spoil me," she said and continues, "That night, daddy gave me a special present, however, we didn't know that a dark scoundrel would come crashing in." She then tells them the part of Fidget crashing through Hiriam's toy shop window. Leana and Sophie were terrified of this part, but their brother John was enjoying it.

"Daddy was gone, he was nowhere to be found. I thought I lost him forever, but it was at the time that I needed to seek out the one mouse who could help locate my missing father," Olivia said, but looks at her husband with a smile. Basil chuckles as she lets him take over.

The two continue to tell the story of their first meeting, including with Dawson. Even though their first meeting didn't make first good impressions on each other, Basil and Olivia loved looking back on this experience. The detective thought that this was the best memory to look back upon. He did admit, the reunion with Olivia ten years later was also the best time he had.

A smile forms on his face as the memory of the case replays in his mind. He would certainly look back on it, including various memories for many years to come.

The End...?

From the author: In the words of Dr. Seuss: "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." Well my dear readers, it certainly isn't over for our favorite mouse detective and his family. There are many tales to be told, hence the question mark at the end.

I really appreciate the support from our mysterious guest reviewer, I hope you do consider in making an account on here. I'm not sure if I answered all the questions, but I am sure they will down the road.

I never asked for reviews, mostly because this was for my own pleasure, but I would like to hear your comments and maybe provide some ideas that would be part of the Basil family crime solving saga.

On a final note, in this time of uncertainty, we should be looking at the positive things in life and not let the gloomy reality cloud our thoughts. Live life to the fullest and look towards the light at the end of the dark tunnel. Everything is going to be all right. Take care everyone!